Amazon launches Flex on-demand delivery method

Amazon has launched Flex, a new on-demand delivery service that relies not on traditional couriers, but ordinary people to bring the packages to customers.

The online retailer is offering workers the ability to make between USD 18 and USD 25 per hour by delivering packages for Amazon using their own vehicle and a smartphone app that helps them route their deliveries. The service, which is now live in Seattle, US, is initially focused on hiring couriers for Amazon’s one-hour delivery service Amazon Prime Now, though the company says that, in the future, other types of packages may be delivered, as well.

The Seattle region is also the first location where Amazon added the option to deliver beer, wine and liquor on-demand through its Prime Now application. In addition, Amazon says that the Flex program will soon arrive to other Prime Now markets, including New York, Baltimore, Miami, Dallas, Austin, Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta and Portland.

Similar to other on-demand services, like those from rival companies such as Uber, Lyft or Postmates, for example, Amazon is using Flex as a way for workers to set the hours they want to work. Those who want to pick up shifts can select either 2, 4 or 8-hour blocks of time that day, or can set their availability up to 12 hours per day for the future, a FAQ on the Amazon Flex website explains.

Before being able to take the jobs, Flex workers will have to pass a standard background check. They also have to be 21 years old, have a driver’s license, their own vehicle and an Android phone. (The Amazon Flex app isn’t iOS-ready, apparently – which is not surprising given Amazon’s own mobile operating system, Fire OS, is Android-based, and therefore its in-house expertise is more Android-focused, as well.)

When starting their shifts, drivers will pickup their deliveries from a nearby location, then deliver within a designated radius that’s based on the length of the delivery block they signed up for, notes Amazon. Currently, the only Amazon Flex jobs are available for drivers, but Amazon says it may expand the service to include those who deliver via bike or on foot at a later point.